The visit of Zelensky in Rome it is the first stage of a tour of the main European capitals scheduled in the next few days. Welcomed at Ciampino by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, the Ukrainian president moved towards the Quirinale, where he met the president of Republic Sergio Mattarella, then at Palazzo Chigi with Giorgia Meloni and, finally, in the Vatican with Papa Francesco, the most awaited meeting of Zelensky's visit in an armored Rome with no fly zones and snipers. The head of the Ukrainian resistance will end his day in Rome with a live TV interview on Bruno Vespa's Porta a Porta before flying to Germany.
And it is precisely the face-to-face with the Pope, the second after the 2020 audience but the first since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the most important meeting of the day. Even if it doesn't have to create too many illusions. Nor on the possibility of silencing the weapons in the Ukraine devastated by over a year of war nor paving the way for a negotiation with the Russian president. There is no one yet Vatican peace plan, but the pontiff wants to obtain from Zelensky the availability of a cease-fire to start setting peace negotiations, while the Ukrainian leader went to Palazzo Chigi to ask for further military support in conjunction with the repeatedly announced counter-offensive in Kiev. Indeed, Zelensky's visit to Rome comes at a potentially crucial moment in the war against Russia, as Ukrainian forces advance near the key eastern city of Bakhmut.
Zelensky in the Vatican meets the Pope: "I pray for peace"
The pontiff welcomed the Ukrainian president with a smile in the Paul VI Hall. “Thank you for this visit,” the Pope said as he shook Zelensky's hand. The Ukrainian president replied: "It is a great honor."
The press office of the Holy See outlined the topics of the conversation, which lasted about 40 minutes. “They refer to the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused by the ongoing war. The Pope - said the Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni - assured his constant prayer, testified by his many public appeals and continuous invocation to the Lord for peace, since February of last year. Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population. The Pope underlined in particular the urgent need for 'human gestures' towards the most fragile people, innocent victims of the conflict”.
“I asked for Russian crimes to be condemned in Ukraine – President Zelensky wrote on Telegram at the end of the meeting with the Pope -. Because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor. I also spoke of our peace formula as the only effective formula for achieving a just peace. He has offered to join in its implementation."
At the end of the interview there was a reciprocal exchange of gifts: the Pope gave Zelensky a small copper sculpture depicting olive branches (symbol of peace) while the Ukrainian president reciprocated with an icon of the Madonna painted on some remains of bulletproof vests and a painting entitled "Loss", on the killing of children during the conflict.
The pontiff has always shown solidarity with the suffering of the Ukrainian population, supporting Kiev's right to sovereignty and independence. But at the same time Bergoglio has never closed to Russia (he himself has always made it a condition to go to the Ukrainian capital only if he goes to Moscow: "I'll go both places or neither"). The objective is always the same: the abandonment of arms and the start of peace negotiations. But the road to get there is increasingly uphill. Now he has also lost his last interlocutor with the Kremlin, the ambassador Alexander Avdeev thanks to which he has managed to mediate in recent months, and which now, after 10 years in the diplomatic seat at the Holy See, has concluded his mandate.
Mattarella to Zelensky: "We are by your side"
“It is an honor for Italy to have you here in Rome. I am delighted to meet you again after our meeting over three years ago, even if the condition you are facing is quite different. We are fully at your side, welcome president”. Said the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella welcoming the Ukrainian leader and reconfirming Italy's full support for Kiev.
Among the other topics at the center of the conversation, according to what transpires from the Quirinale, there were the effectiveness of the economic sanctions on Russia, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the fight against fake news, the bombing of civilian structures and the abduction of Ukrainian children (in which Mattarella did not hide his indignation by calling it "an excruciating and ignoble practice"), the reconstruction "in the short and long term", war crimes and, last but not least, Ukraine's entry into the European Union. "Italy is now aiming to help Ukraine to achieve the parameters," said the Italian head of state.
Meloni to Zelensky: "Italy will ensure military aid to Kiev until a just peace is reached"
After the meeting with Mattarella, Zelensky went to Palazzo Chigi to see the head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni. The meeting, which lasted an hour and 10 minutes, was an opportunity to reiterate Italy's “full support for Ukraine at 360 degrees. And it will do so for as long as necessary", said the premier in a press conference at the end of "a long, important and fruitful meeting". “We will continue to provide support, including military support, so that Ukraine can enter the negotiations with a solid position. “We assure support for peace as long as it is one just peace. Surrender cannot be reached, it would be unjust and dangerous”.
But "peace will only be achieved if and when Russia ceases hostilities", Meloni continued. Then the appeal to Moscow to "stop the aggression and to withdraw the troops". “We are in favor – he added – of a diplomatic solution to the conflict. We support the 10 point peace formula of President Zelensky. And we recognize the legitimate European aspirations of Ukraine, an outpost of security for the entire European continent”.
“The truth is that Ukraine is a victim of aggression and that by defending its integrity and identity, it distances the war from the rest of Europe. What the Ukrainians are doing, they are doing for us too."
